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Thomas
Eccleston Jr.
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Burrillville
is a town rich in hockey history. Thomas Eccleston Jr. formed the first
Burrillville hockey team in 1938 and Walter "Dinky" Ballou led
Burrillville to their first state championship title in 1944, while serving
as interim coach.
Thomas
Eccleston Jr. led the Broncos to six state championship titles between
1948 and 1956 before William "Babe"
Mousseau took the reins in 1956. Coach Mousseau then led the Broncos
to seven state championship titles and five New England titles before
retiring in 1974.
Although
the Broncos didn't win any state championship titles between 1974 and
1984, Burrillville remained "one of the teams to beat" and stayed
competitive behind leaders such as coach Dudley, "Red" Rabitor,
and Jim Murphy.
Thomas
Eccleston Jr. returned in 1985 to coach Burrillville to four Met B1 state
championship titles in five years before retiring for the last time in
1990. Michael Menard took over as head coach in 1990 and led the Broncos
to state championship titles in 1991 and 1993.
Burrillville
decided to move back up to Met A after the 1993 season and Coach Menard
would stay for one more year. In 1994, Gary Cahill became the new head
coach and remained through the 1999-2000 season. Shane McConnell took the reins of the Broncos in 2000 with hopes of
adding to Burrillville's past success.
In
2002 the RIIL launched the girls high school hockey inaugural season.
Burrillville, coached by Gary Rouleau, was one of five teams to participate
in the new girls league. Keeping with Bronco tradition, the girls found
themselves battling for the State Championship. The girls finished a remarkable
first season, taking second place, and look forward to many more successful
seasons.
Before
the start of the 2003-2004 season, the RIIL decided to realign the Boy's
Championship and Met B divisions, moving St. Raphael and Burrillville to
the Met B North Division. The Broncos won the Met B North Division and
finished as Runners-Up to Moses Brown for the Met B State Championship.
In 2005, Burrillville return to championship status by winning the Boys Division II State Championship title under head coach Shane McConnell. This is the Broncos first State Championship title in 12 years.
As the 2007-2008 season rolled around Steve Daigle became the new head coach of the Broncos, inheriting the team and head coaching position from Shane McConnell. Coach Daigle is off to great start as the Broncos took home another championship, winning the 2008 Division 1A State Championship by overpowering Barrington.
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